


Proof of Love

by fandomlver



Category: Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: Antonio cusses, Gen, M/M, first fic in this fandom, omgso nervous, read it whichever way you like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 16:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/611653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlver/pseuds/fandomlver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The best proof of love is trust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Proof of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hagar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/gifts).



> Hagar, our mutual friend helped me some, but I wouldn't let her tell me too much; not much point in writing you a fic you could have written for yourself, after all. I really hope you like this. Read it romantic or platonic as you like.

You never expected him to keep his promise.

Well, no. That's not true.

Two children stood in your garden and made a promise, and you believed it utterly.

But children grow up.

You are still a child. And when Ji, who you love, threatens to go after Antonio, the only friend you've ever known, and take back the zord you gifted to him, you react as a child, with the only power you have.

"If you go after him, I'll stop being a Samurai! I'll never train again."

Ji stares at you. You hold his gaze, determined not to back down. You have never stood up to him for anything, not since the day your father left you in his care, but this is _important._

"I am very disappointed in you," he says finally.

It's the last thing he says to you for three days. Silent monks lead your training and tend to you, and you neither see nor hear Ji in all that time.

On the fourth day you realise that Ji could have gone after Antonio after all. You refuse to leave your room until he comes to you, and when he finally appears you drop to your knees. "I'm sorry. Please don't leave me."

He sighs. "Get up, Jayden. The Red Ranger does not kneel, not to anyone."

"I am sorry."

"You're late for training."

It's a long time before you understand why it was so important to you that Antonio be allowed to keep the Zord.

Years pass. You are not officially restricted to the House, but Ji has made it very clear that any time not spent training or learning is a waste. You leave to train with the monks of the Tengen Gate, or to deal with the - very occasional - mooger attack. Apart from that you spend all your time at the House, training and practising. You haven't met anyone new since Antonio left.

You rarely allow yourself to think of Lauren - if you don't think of her, you can't betray her - but sometimes, when sleep won't come, you watch the moon and wonder where she is, and if she's lonely. You wonder if she ever thinks of you.

You are seventeen. Ji has not given you an order in years - not one phrased as an order - but the House still runs according to his rules, and so do you. You haven't defied him in years.

And then your life spins out of control.

The team moves into the House, and suddenly everywhere you turn, someone is there. There's nowhere to go to get away from them, no quiet anywhere. The rules you live by are shattered, useless.

You build new rules, slowly and painfully. It takes a long time; you aren't used to interacting with anyone new, and you have to learn how to talk to them, how to deal with them. It gets easier as you learn about your team, both as a unit and individually. You begin to learn who will react in what way to what situation; you don't _understand_ most of their reactions – Mike might as well be from another planet as far as you're concerned – but you can predict them. 

When Ji pushes Mike so hard he runs you speak for him. Mike is hotheaded and stubborn, but he wants this. The problem is that he chafes against the training that you received. But you've listened to the others enough to know that there are other ways; Mike responds to challenges. Show him something he can't do and he'll work to learn it. And he is skilled and quick witted and the team would be lessened without him.

(Mike earns his morpher back, and you smile.)

You are proud when Emily fights past her insecurities to defeat Negatron. The Nighlok's words had gone straight to your core, to everything that makes you you, and you were unable to fight past them; but your youngest Samurai was able to hold on, and in the process she's drawing Mike into the team.

(You run for ice cream, all of you together, and you are happy.)

When Kevin is turned by the Nighlok you refuse to allow the others to fight him. The symbol, the only way to save him, will work or it will kill him. You are their leader, you are the Shiba, and you will not allow them to carry something like this, if it should fail. You are responsible and you alone will bear that weight.

(Kevin lives, and you are glad.)

In a lot of ways Mia's the hardest to understand, until one day something shifts and you suddenly _see_ her. Mia doesn't like to see other people in pain. She'll do whatever it takes to prevent, deflect or heal. Once you know that, she's easier to predict, although it means you have to stay on your guard around her. You're not used to hiding your emotions; Ji knows you too well and you haven't spent enough time around other people. Polite distance is your best bet, until you learn.

(Mia cooks, and you smile to make her feel better.)

Your team is coming together, and you are learning how to be around people. You begin to think this might work.

And then Antonio comes back.

For a moment, as you throw punches and kicks in a pattern as familiar as breathing, you are completely happy.

But you haven't thought it through.

Antonio leaves with a promise to come to the House. The others crowd you, looking for answers you can't give; you look to Mia for protection and she makes them back off, letting you start back to the House.

Ji is angry. The others don't seem to notice, but you've spent twelve years matching your behaviour to his mood. You set the others training, promising them answers later. You try to talk to Ji, but he steps away to yell at Kevin.

You can't sleep, and you think of Lauren. You wonder whether she has friends, and whether her friends fought and trained for ten years to stand at her side.

You don't think of Antonio. Thinking of Ji's reaction makes you afraid, though you can't understand why. Easier not to think of him until it's time.

The next morning you explain to the others. You are careful to emphasis how young you were when you knew Antonio, knowing both that if you don't, Ji will, and that it will explain how their straight laced leader was once so close to someone as to give them a Zord, to stand up to Ji for them. The team have never seen you so much as argue with Ji, after all.

Then Antonio bursts in. And he is bright, and loud, and cheerful, and exactly as you remember him. And he has spent twelve years preparing himself, training, pushing so he can come back to stand at your side.

It's too much. Overwhelmed, you excuse yourself, leaving Antonio with the team.

You have come to accept - though you will never like - the idea that they will protect you even at the risk of their own lives. You can even make a sort of peace with it; you are a Shiba, after all, you are Lauren's back up as well as her decoy, her protection and protector. If you are not quite what they think, you are still a Shiba Red, and for now you are their leader.

But they follow you from duty. You are not so proud that you can't admit you need them; but they came to you from duty and responsibility, not from choice.

But Antonio has no loyalty the way they do; his is personal loyalty, not institutional, and you don't know how to deal with it. Antonio has spent years training for you, for no other reason than because he thinks it will help you, and you don't know what to do with that. You cannot countenance putting him in danger, not when he has no obligation.

You allow Ji to handle it with a sense of relief, and pretend not to know what he'll do. When the gap sensor goes off, and you hurry inside, and Antonio begs you - _begs_ you! - to be allowed to come...

You look away, and cut him down, and run.

The team doesn't quite seem to know how to handle it. You're prepared to ignore it all; it will pass, and you don't have to explain yourself to them. Things will go back to the way they were, if you can just ignore it for long enough.

And Antonio will be safe.

But then Mia - Mia who hates to see anyone hurt, Mia who sees so deeply - manages to deconstruct everything in a few sentences, to strip away all your fine, noble reasons and expose the terrified boy beneath. You try to walk away, but Antonio's there, and the others, and you can't do this. You can't see him hurt for your war; you can't turn him away again.

You're prepared for the others to get hurt. You don't like it, but they are Samurai, sworn to this fight; they'd be in just as much danger fighting with Lauren. Antonio, though – the only reason he's even here is a childhood promise, made before either of you knew what you were swearing to.

You didn't expect him back. Children make and break promises as easily as breathing, and there's no intention to decieve; you have understood this for a long time. You know he meant it at the time, and you have no resentment towards him. You hoped he was happy, somewhere.

But now he's standing in front of you, ready to fight by your side. Eager for it, even. If you could only explain – but you can't. Lauren's safety lies with you; your silence is her protection.

You can't explain why he shouldn't be here.

_Lauren._

You give him his morpher, and smile.

Your rules become useless again. This time, with experience, rebuilding is easier. The others have to adapt, as well; surprisingly, Kevin has more trouble than anyone, stuck on the fact that Antonio does not come from a traditional family. You keep an eye on it, but you don't interfere; you cannot favour one of your team over another, no matter how much you want to.

(Antonio earns Kevin's respect, and you are proud.)

It takes time to adapt to him. Antonio is a skilled fighter, and you quickly come to depend on him; he cheerfully follows your orders in the field, because he honestly believes you know best. Outside of battle he just as cheerfully ignores your requests, dragging you out to play games or mess around; he skips training or turns up late and is generally just slightly more disruptive than he should be able to get away with. He makes it his mission to stand between you and Deker, no matter how often you order him away.

You don't know how to handle him. The lack of predictability makes you dizzy.

It takes you a while, but you figure him out, too. Your team want you safe and alive; Antonio wants you happy.

It's easier to understand him after that, and easier to go along with him. You rebuild your rules to allow for him. And if the new rules allow you to laugh with your team, to have fun, to relax once in a while - well. They're your rules. And as long as your team is sucessful, Ji will not openly argue with you.

Antonio terrifies you. He doesn't refuse you anything. Even Kevin will argue; Antonio doesn't. You do your best not to ask him for anything, or to make requests beyond the reasonable. You don't know how to handle having that much power over someone.

In theory, of course, you have power over the Rangers. In practise, they'd argue you down. And you don't give orders anyway, not outside of battle. It feels wrong, when you are not what they think.

The evening after you rescue Antonio and Ji from Eyescar, you find Antonio sitting near the bottom of the garden long after the others have gone inside. He's still playing with that spool from earlier, and you smile as you watch.

"Joining me?" he asks without turning around.

You smile, moving to sit next to him. He's sitting on the ground, leaning back against the boulder, and you join him without hesitation. "You knew I was there."

"All that Samurai training paying off. What's on your mind?"

"What makes you think anything's on my mind?"

Kevin would back off. Emily would apologise. Mike would make something up. Mia would stare at you.

Antonio grins lazily. "I can hear the hamster going around in there."

You grin, and jostle him, and think, _Six months ago, I wouldn't have known what to do with that._

"So what is it?" he insists.

He's still mostly-amused, and you're grateful. As long as he's amused, your chances of getting through this without giving away too much are higher. When Antonio gets serious, you get worried. He just doesn't give up.

"Ji told me what you said," you tell him, mimicking his posture to look up at the sky. "I don't know what I've done to give you such faith in me."

"You didn't have to do anything but be you."

"Antonio..."

"Jayden." He laughs softly. "You're an idiot, Jay. You know that, right?"

"Hey," you protest mildly, more because he expects it than because the barb hurt.

"You always come. You were ready to go to Nighlok to save Emily – clearly a stupid plan, by the way –"

"So Mentor told me," you mutter. There were a lot of private lectures over that.

"You sent the others into my dream, nearly killing yourself in the process, you were ready to fight Deker to save innocents, nearly killing yourself in the process – you know," he interrupts himself, "I'm sensing a pattern here."

"Hey," you protest again. Antonio glances at you but lets it go.

"You honestly don't see why we believe in you, do you?"

"No," you admit softly. "I – there's things you don't know –"

"We know the important things. We know that you're brave, and you care about us, and we know that if you can help it, we won't be hurt. That's all we need."

"No," you agree, and then the weight of it hits you and you stiffen.

Because they will be hurt. It can't be avoided now. Lauren will come, and the Rangers will realise that you've been lying to them.

This is why you should have kept them at a distance.

Something must show on your face, because Antonio leans over to look at you. "Jayden?"

"Nothing," you say automatically, smiling at him.

"Nothing, hell. What _is_ it?"

You swallow, forcing calm, drawing a breath. "Nothing," you repeat. "Really; just a thought that surprised me. It's nothing."

"Liar," Antonio says, resigned.

You catch his arm, suddenly desperate for him to understand. "Antonio – if I could tell you..."

He scans your face once, nodding. "I know. It's all right."

"I _would_. It's not – I trust you, that isn't..."

"I know. Hey." He grins. "I believe you. It's all right."

You can't hide the relief, and don't try. He deserves this much from you, if nothing else.

Antonio considers you for a minute before turning to look up again. "What else have you got rattling around in there?" You blink and he adds, "I know you, remember."

You consider pointing out how much you've changed since you were children, but it's pointless. For all that he's all about making you happy, Antonio doesn't listen much, certainly not when you're not saying what he wants to hear.

You consider him, the boy who gave you all of himself, and wonder what you can say. "Nothing, just..." You bite your lip for a moment before blurting, "Don't follow me so easily. It's not - what I need." _Good for you_ , you almost said, but you caught yourself in time.

"Sorry, Jay," he says easily. "You're shit at knowing what you need, so I'm doing it for you now."

"What would you do if I went over to the Nighlok?"

"Be very surprised."

"An _tonio_."

Antonio smiled faintly. "Go with you - joking, Jayden. Make sure you didn't hurt anyone. Is this a plan? Are we making contingencies, here?"

"No." You smile down at your hands. "Just curious."

"Hell of a thing to be curious about," he murmurs, but he doesn't push.

"Ji wanted to chase you down and take back the Octozord," you say on impulse. For a moment you're not sure why; even Ji hasn't brought this up in years. It's history, literally.

Antonio nods. "I figured he probably would."

"I told him I'd stop being a Samurai."

"Did you."

"I was afraid if you didn't have it anymore, you'd forget about me."

For a moment Antonio isn't sure how to respond to that; you can see the thoughts flying across his face, though you can't read them, before he says, deliberately light, "Nah. You're stuck with me, Jay."

"For how long?" you whisper, and the sheer need in your voice startles you.

"Forever," Antonio says easily. " _Remember we'll always be friends, no matter how far apart we are._ "

Your voice catches in your throat the first time you try to answer, and you have to stop and clear it. "That won't matter much if you never leave," you remind him, and you manage to keep your tone level and light.

"I just thought you could stand to hear it," Antonio answers.

You stare at the moon and think of Lauren. You hope she has someone like this to stand with her. You promise yourself again that you will be this for her; you will support her and help her in any way you can.

"Jayden," he says firmly. "I am your friend. I am always going to be your friend. Accept it; you'll be a lot happier."

"I don't know _why,_ " you admit.

"I'm mooching off the rich kid."

You half believe it, and his expression shifts to alarm. "That was a joke, Jayden. I'm joking about that; that's not why I like you."

"But..."

" _But,_ " he mutters. "Jayden, no one talked to me when I was a kid. Not unless they were buying fish. My dad and me, we talked funny and we were just fisherman. You liked me. Just because."

"I liked you because you treated me – not like the others."

"What?"

"We played..." You gesture to the yard. "Silly games. It was the only time I wasn't training one way or another, and you just – you didn't make anything of it. You just did it."

"Well, yeah," he agrees. "We were kids. Kids play games."

"Yeah," you breathe, leaning forward. "Kids do, don't they."

Antonio's hand rests on your shoulder, warm and comforting. "I'm your friend, Jayden."

For the first time, you truly believe it.

"Come on," Antonio says finally, standing. "We should go in before the others come out."

"Antonio - thank you."

"Eh." He waves it off. "What's a friend for?'

You smile, turning to go inside, and he follows you, at your shoulder as always.

**Author's Note:**

> Jayden, Antonio, trust, power. Friendship or romantic, both go. All ratings.
> 
> (The way trust and power work for those two is intricate. Naivete and status/safety on the one hand, uncertainty and interpersonal skill on the other - and one huge promise made at a young age that Antonio made good on.)
> 
> (I do actually mean "all ratings" - G and E would be equally good. It's the dynamic I'm interested in.)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Rules for Living, Rules for Life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2148723) by [wildforce71](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforce71/pseuds/wildforce71)




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